Page 123 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

625
aCta
feasible) in order to carry out evacuations or internal movements of people, doctors, me-
dicines, correspondence or certain critical goods;
e) As far as Public Works and Services are concerned, the operation of the drinking water
plant and the power plant was conducted by their own employees or workers discreetly
supervised by Argentine Army engineers, and continued up to the end with the repair of
lines and pipes even amid combat and gunfire situations which involved great risks. Work
teams were organized in order to repair damaged houses and buildings, a sweeping ma-
chine was put into operation to clean the streets, and a vehicle was adapted for the collec-
tion of garbage which was then burnt or buried for sanitary reasons. A military cemetery
was also built close to the civil one that existed in Puerto Argentino and showers were
installed for the daily use of some 700/800 members of the argentine forces, equipped
with a system for the extraction and worming-up of sea water so as to avoid affecting the
supply of drinking water;
f) As regards Education, despite the departure of all British teaching personnel (approxima-
tely 90% of the teachers), a limited level of activity was maintained with the help of local
teachers who offered classes in different households to small groups of children, while
typing classes were given in parochial installations of the Catholic Church.
g) In the field of Public Health, the existing system was based on a public hospital of good
capacity which operated in Puerto Argentino under the direction of a British doctor with
personnel of the same origin and few local nurses, all of whom received support from
Argentina in cases of greater complexity. For those health centers located in the interior a
radio communication network was operated, including a system to provide diagnosis and
even medicines that were supplied free of charge and transported by air. The system was
maintained but the Director of the Hospital (a reserve officer of the British Army) had to
be discharged due to his hostile attitude and replaced by an Argentine doctor. The health
service provided by radio-telephone continued to operate and efforts were made to main-
tain the supply of medicines to rural areas. In some cases of serious illness which required
surgical or other treatment, the patients were brought by plane to Puerto Argentino, even
during the war operation.
h) as regards mail and telecommunications, all services remained in operation. the local te-
lephone service functioned without interruption and the local operators were maintained
at first under the supervision of Argentine personnel, but were later replaced by bilingual
personnel as of 10/15 May. The local Cable & Wireless international telecommunica-
tions office was occupied from the start by military personnel and provided service to
the Argentine troops and civilians under permanent control and supervision by bilingual
military personnel, including a radioteletype connection which maintained a controlled
communication channel with London. Even if the health service provided by radiote-
lephone remained in operation at all times for humanitary reasons, it was placed under
strict control with a pre-established timetable. Given the possibility of misuse of such
equipment, a census of radio hams was implemented, but some time later, for security
reasons, such operators were forced to hand over their equipment under receipt, and a
special sector was created to this effect at the General Warehouse of Puerto Argentino, to
be operated by a local officer. In some far away locations the order was to dismantle all
antenas, a decision whose compliance was controlled by military patrols with the use of